Blake High School PTSA

Nominations are sought for the Marian Greenblatt Education Fund awards for outstanding Montgomery County teachers. The Fund presents awards to three veteran teachers and one first-year teacher. Winners are chosen for their ability to inspire their students to achieve and to encourage younger teachers to be the best they can be. Since 1989, the Fund has recognized 62 teachers for excellence.

Three veteran teachers receive $1,000 each. The first-year teacher receives $500. In addition, each winning teacher receives a plaque, as does the school. One of the veteran teachers is chosen Montgomery County Teacher of the Year and receives use of a new car for a year and other awards.

Parents may write letters of support for any Blake teacher that they think is outstanding. Letters of support can be sent directly to the Fund or to Blake High School, Attn: Principal Goodman. All nominations are due Friday, January 15, 2010. For more information, see the Marian Greenblatt Education Fund web page.

The James Hubert Blake High School chapter of the National Honor Society welcomes 42 new members. The formal induction took place on Monday, December 7, 2009.  Candidates for the National Honor Society are evaluated on four criteria:  leadership, scholarship, character, and service.  Members must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or weighted 4.0.  Ms. Beth Shepherd and Ms. Katie Kodan are the NHS advisors. 

The new members are:  Alexandra Abell, Daniel Arias, Nicholas Arnold-Medabalimi, Sarah Aylor, Lauren Barlow, Isabela Barriga, Adrienne Bush, Cynthia Cheng, Maia Chicherio, Git-Yee Chu, Aron Crews, Delaney Cruickshank, Somala Diby, Leanna Diggs, Rainier Gomez, Amy Gottlieb, Kelly Hanlon, Bridget Hawvermale, Ashley Haymaker, Blaire Hoffman, Lily Hua, Julie Huleis, Nicholas Hung, Dylan Hysen, Aimee Kohorst, Corinne Konoza, Sara Kushner, Jennifer Lien, Julia Maas, Quynh-Nhu Nguyen, Leena Owen, Joshua Paunil, Nicole Pontious, Linda Powers, Mariel Shilling, Gillian Spolarich, Britney Stuart, Sophia Venero, Shannon Wade, Kira Williams, Patrick Xiao

The PTSA General Meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 15, at 7 p.m. in the Media Center.  This month we will make award presentations to the student winners of the Reflections Contest, which recognizes achievement in the arts. At the PTSA meeting you will have an opportunity to see or hear works by the students. Thank you to all Blake teachers who encouraged your students to participate in this contest.

The PTSA asks that parents and all members please bring one or more canned foods, which we are collecting, but there is also a need for items for the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless (see next message). Donate, if you can. If you have questions, please contact Robina Barlow at president@blakeptsa.org.

The PTSA is collecting items for homeless men and families. If you can contribute any of the items that are needed, and listed below, please bring them to the PTSA meeting on Tuesday, December 15, and the items will be taken to the MC Coalition for the Homeless to distribute. You may also bring items to the Main Office until December 18. Thank you.

Holiday Wish Lists

Home Builders Care Assessment Center (Formally Men’s Emergency Shelter)
Unwrapped toys, books, games (Ages 12 and under)
Underwear (Focus on large sizes 3x, 4x, etc., thermal in the winter)
Socks
Rosetta Stone Language Learning software- Spanish
Gift cards (Grocery Stores, Wal-Mart, Target) Read more »

“Potluck and a Project”

NAACP Parents’ Council December  Meeting
Wednesday, December 16th
6:30 – 8:00 p.m. - Blake HS,  Cafeteria

In the spirit of the holiday season, please join us for the NAACP Parents’ Council Meeting on December 16th as we share with those who are less fortunate.  We will be having a Pot Luck dinner and would ask families to bring a dish to share – main course, sides, and/or desserts.

In addition, we are asking families to bring items to donate to the Greentree Shelter, a transitional home for homeless families, primarily children with single mothers, that provides the basic support systems necessary for families to rebuild their lives.

Contact Bobette Banks at threebmeATaol.com or Sharon Mosley-Ramsey at alljazz105ATaol.com for more information. All are welcome!

The winter holidays are approaching quickly. What better way to say thanks to the Blake Staff then to bake a batch of delicious cookies for them? The PTSA will celebrate on Thursday December 17th during lunch with a Cookie Fest. Please send in cookies that morning to the office with your name and the recipe.

Volunteers are needed on that day to help set up and clean up, 10am – 1pm. Let us know how you can help!! Contact Patrice Kelly and Cathy Clark, coordinators, at kellychirigosATaolDOTcom.

We will be having our second After Prom meeting on Monday, December 7th at 7:00pm in the Career Center.

PTA volunteers have been selling pizza, buttons and sponsoring several Dine-Outs to raise funds for the After Prom coming up in May.

At our next meeting we will discuss the upcoming  business and parent letters which we will be sending out in Feb.  (our main fundraisers), we will discuss what activities we would like to have at the After Prom-Casino tables, key chains, tattoos……. and we have basketball concessions coming up (we have signed up for 4 basketball and one wrestling match concessions).

We are looking forward to hearing your ideas to make this a great After Prom for our students. Please come and help us plan this wonderful event.  It takes a village to put on this big an event.  We would love to have Freshman and Sophomore parents get involved-your students will be attending the After Prom before you know it!

The Silent Auction committee will be meeting on Monday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. in the Career Counseling Center.  Help is needed to stuff envelopes and send out letters.  All are welcome.

A group of Blake parents and a teacher representative met on Dec. 1st to discuss the formation of a Blake Education Foundation. The foundation would be established to provide a means of financial support for projects that would enhance the educational environment for Blake students, and staff. It would also support projects that are beyond the scope of PTSA projects and fundraising. Several high schools in Montgomery County have started Education Foundations, the oldest of which is Bethesda Chevy Chase High School.

The group discussed several examples of the type of projects that could be funded, including a mobile foreign language lab; scholarships; academic support programs; a technology fund; and teacher programs.

Watch this space for announcements of future meetings. If you’re interested in participating in the Foundation, or have ideas for fundraising or projects to fund, please contact Robina Barlow at: president@blakeptsa.org.